Black Eyed Peas plot second leg of North American tour
The Black Eyed Peas have added a second leg of North American dates to their long-running world tour in support of last year's chart-topping studio release, "The E.N.D."
The summer leg both kicks off and ends in Canada, starting with July 27-28 shows in Toronto, and ending Aug. 23 in Edmonton, Alberta. Highlights include stops in Boston (8/3), Chicago (8/11) and St. Louis, MO (8/14).
Tickets for select shows among the newly added dates go on sale March 13.
On the road, the Peas continue to support their multi-platinum-selling fifth album, "The E.N.D.," which surfaced last summer.
The Grammy-winning set, which was produced by the group's own Will.I.Am, topped The Billboard 200 and has spawned four chart-topping singles: "Boom Boom Pow," "I Gotta Feeling," "Meet Me Halfway" and "Imma Be," which the band performed in January at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, and is currently sitting atop Billboard's Hot 100 chart.
The band took home Grammy Awards in three of the six categories for which it was nominated at this year's awards, including Best Pop Vocal Album for "The E.N.D.," Best Pop Vocal Performance for "I Gotta Feeling" and Best Short Form Video for "Boom Boom Pow." The three awards doubled the band's career haul of Grammy statuettes.
TOUR DATES
March 2010
11 - Milwaukee, WI - Bradley Center
13 - Chicago, IL - United Center
18 - Houston, TX - Reliant Stadium at Reliant Park
19 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center
20 - Tulsa, OK - BOK Center
22 - Saint Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
24 - Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center
25 - Des Moines, IA - Iowa Events Center
27 - Denver, CO - Pepsi Center
29 - Los Angeles, CA - Staples Center
31 - Glendale, AZ - Jobing.com Arena
April 2010
2 - San Jose, CA - HP Pavilion at San Jose
7 - Sacramento, CA - ARCO Arena
10 - Tacoma, WA - Tacoma Dome
11 - Vancouver, British Columbia - General Motors Place
July 2010
27, 28 - Toronto, Ontario - Air Canada Centre
31 - Montreal, Quebec - Bell Centre
August 2010
1 - Ottawa, Ontario - Scotiabank Place
3 - Boston, MA - TD Banknorth Garden
4 - Newark, NJ - Prudential Center
6 - Hartford, CT - XL Center
7 - Atlantic City, NJ - Boardwalk Hall
10 - Baltimore, MD - 1st Mariner Arena
11 - Buffalo, NY - HSBC Arena
13 - Chicago, IL - Allstate Arena
14 - St. Louis, MO - Scottrade Center
18 - Winnipeg, MB - MTS Centre
20 - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - Credit Union Centre
22 - Calgary, Alberta - Pengrowth Saddledome
23 - Edmonton, Alberta - Rexall Place
Corey Haim prolonged tragic Hollywood tradition
LOS ANGELES – Corey Haim's story is sadly familiar in Hollywood: A teen talent who discovered drugs as he tasted his first success and whose personal problems increased as his star-power faded.
Haim died Wednesday at 38, another chapter in Hollywood's tragic history of careers ravaged by drugs.
Brittany Murphy's career was rebounding when she died at 31 in December from pneumonia and prescription drugs.
River Phoenix was 16 when he starred in "Stand By Me" and 23 when he died of a drug overdose outside a Hollywood nightclub.
Haim died at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, His mother called paramedics after he collapsed while getting out of bed at his apartment.
Haim started working in TV commercials at 10 and was a big-screen heartthrob at 15. The star of 1987's "The Lost Boys" discovered drugs while making that movie.
"I was working on 'Lost Boys' when I smoked my first joint," he told the British tabloid The Sun in 1994. "I did cocaine for about a year and a half, then it led to crack."
Haim said he went into rehab and was put on prescription drugs. In 2007, he told ABC's "Nightline" that drugs hurt his career.
"I wasn't functional enough to work for anybody, even myself," he said. "I wasn't working."
Haim had returned to the spotlight in recent years, appearing in the A&E reality TV show "The Two Coreys" with "Lost Boys" co-star Corey Feldman. The show was canceled in 2008 after two seasons. Feldman later said Haim's drug abuse strained their working and personal relationships.
Haim was ill with flulike symptoms before his death, and police said he was taking over-the-counter and prescription medications.
An autopsy will determine his cause of death. There was no evidence of foul play.
"He could have succumbed to whatever (illness) he had or it could have been drugs," police Sgt. William Mann said. "He has had a drug problem in the past."
Feldman said he wept when he learned Haim had died.
"This is a tragic loss of a wonderful, beautiful, tormented soul, who will always be my brother, family, and best friend," Feldman said in a statement.
Troy Searer, an executive producer of "The Two Coreys," said Haim's "heart and his potential were only outmatched by his demons."
Dr. Drew Pinsky, an addiction-medicine specialist and star of VH1's drug-treatment reality programs "Celebrity Rehab" and "Sober House," said the lure of Hollywood attracts many potential addicts.
"There's a higher incidence of addiction among celebrities," he said. "It's not the Hollywood-ness. It's the fact that addicts show up in Hollywood and addicts are likely to die."
Pinsky added: "Young Hollywood only reflects what's going on in the culture at large."
Jennifer Gimenez, an actress and recovering drug addict and alcoholic who appears on "Sober House," said Hollywood's ultra-competitive environment can lead some people to seek escape in substances.
"I don't feel like Hollywood takes you down," she said. "I just feel like it co-signs it a lot."
Gimenez found success at 14 as a model and suddenly had to shoulder adult-sized responsibilities. Add the pressure of working in a competitive industry, and a person predisposed to addiction succumbs, she said.
Successful actors are not immune to the dangers of addiction. Heath Ledger was poised for superstardom when he overdosed in 2008 at age 28. He posthumously won the Oscar the following year for his work as the Joker in "The Dark Knight."
Haim's career outlook had been improving in recent months, and his neighbors told reporters the actor was looking healthier and getting stronger.
He had a role in the 2009 Jason Statham action flick "Crank 2: High Voltage" and was making appearances to support his new film "American Sunset," billed on his Web site as the first film he had starred in "since he left the business on a sabbatical."
Haim's agent Mark Sterling and producers of "American Sunset" did not immediately respond to calls for comment.
Searer said he last spoke to Haim about six months ago, when the actor "seemed incredibly positive."
"He had done a few smaller films and things seemed to be on the upswing for him," Searer said.
Haim, however, seemed sadly prophetic when he was interviewed by CNN's Larry King in 2007, calling himself "a chronic relapser for the rest of my life."
'Lost Boys' actor Corey Haim dead in Calif. at 38
LOS ANGELES – Corey Haim, a 1980s teen heartthrob whose career was blighted by drug abuse, has died. He was 38.
Haim died early Wednesday at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Los Angeles County coroner's Lt. Cheryl MacWillie said.
"As he got out of bed, he felt a little weak and went down to the floor on his knees," Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said. His mother called paramedics.
An autopsy will determine cause of death. There was no evidence of foul play, police Sgt. Michael Kammert said.
Haim, who gained attention for roles in "Lucas" and "The Lost Boys," had flulike symptoms before he died and was getting over-the-counter and prescription medications, police Sgt. William Mann said.
"He could have succumbed to whatever (illness) he had or it could have been drugs," Mann said. "He has had a drug problem in the past."
Haim was taken by ambulance to the hospital from an apartment in Los Angeles near Burbank.
His friend, Corey Feldman, said he wept when he heard the news.
"This is a tragic loss of a wonderful, beautiful, tormented soul, who will always be my brother, family and best friend," he said in a statement. "We must all take this as a lesson in how we treat the people we share this world with while they are still here to make a difference.
"I hope the art Corey has left behind will be remembered as the passion of that for which he truly lived," Feldman said.
Haim acknowledged his struggle with drug abuse to a British tabloid in 2004.
"I was working on 'Lost Boys' when I smoked my first joint," he told The Sun. "I did cocaine for about a year and a half, then it led to crack."
Haim said he went into rehabilitation and was put on prescription drugs. He took stimulants and sedatives.
"I started on the downers, which were a hell of a lot better than the uppers because I was a nervous wreck," he said.
In 2007, he told ABC's "Nightline" that drugs hurt his career.
"I wasn't functional enough to work for anybody, even myself. I wasn't working," he said.
The Toronto-born actor got his start in television commercials at 10 and developed a good reputation for his work in such films as 1985's "Murphy's Romance" and his portrayal of Liza Minnelli's dying son in the 1985 television film "A Time to Live."
His career peaked when he became a heartthrob with his roles in the 1986 movie "Lucas" and "The Lost Boys" in 1987 in which he battled vampires.
In later years, he made a few TV appearances and had several direct-to-video movies. He also had a handful of recent movies that have not yet been released.
In 1997, Haim filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, listing debts for medical expenses and more than $200,000 in state and federal taxes.
His assets included a few thousand dollars in cash, clothing and royalty rights.
In recent years, he appeared in the A&E reality TV show "The Two Coreys" with Feldman. It was canceled in 2008 after two seasons. Feldman later said Haim's drug abuse strained their working and personal relationships.
In a 2007 interview on CNN's "Larry King Live," Haim called himself "a chronic relapser for the rest of my life."
Letterman: Case against producer handled properly
NEW YORK – From the start, David Letterman made sure the story of a $2 million shakedown attempt over his sex life was one he narrated himself.
It was the comic, not prosecutors, who broke the news of the case, which spurred him last fall to acknowledge affairs with women on his staff.
After former television producer Robert "Joe" Halderman pleaded guilty Tuesday to a blackmail attempt driven by debt and jealousy, Letterman seized the moment again. The late-night icon's lawyers were at the courthouse with a statement from him, and he weighed in on his show with praise for prosecutors and police.
"It was handled professionally, skillfully and appropriately," he said.
Letterman may be hoping the same is said of his own handling of the case, which at first dealt a blow to his image as a nice guy, if perhaps a little cranky.
Halderman, 52, pleaded guilty to attempted grand larceny, acknowledging he threatened to destroy Letterman reputation by airing his workplace dalliances — using information authorities have said Halderman mined from the diary of a former girlfriend who had a relationship with Letterman.
The plea deal spares Halderman a potential 15 years in prison had he been convicted. He is due instead to get a six-month jail sentence and 1,000 hours of community service.
"I attempted to extort $2 million from David Letterman by threatening to disclose personal and private information about him, whether true or false," he said in court Tuesday, apologizing to his ex-girlfriend and Letterman.
"I feel great remorse for what I have done," he said.
The plea also spares Letterman the prospect of a trial that could have put his private life on display, though he defused much of Halderman's potential bombshell last fall by revealing his affairs.
Halderman was a producer for CBS' "48 Hours Mystery" when the case began; Letterman's "Late Show" also is on CBS. CBS News said Halderman is no longer an employee but declined to specify whether he had quit or been fired.
Halderman acknowledged delivering the blackmail threat in September to Letterman's driver, in the form of a faintly fictionalized screenplay outline about the comedian. He admitted Tuesday the supposed script was "just a thinly veiled threat to ruin Mr. Letterman if he did not pay me a lot of money."
Defense attorney Gerald Shargel said Tuesday that Halderman "was both jealous and enraged" and under financial pressure. Halderman, who made about $214,000 in 2007, was struggling with money in the wake of a divorce, according to court papers filed by his ex-wife's lawyers.
Under the plea agreement, Halderman must give prosecutors all copies of any diary entries, photos, screenplay notes or other materials he has concerning Letterman and must agree never to reveal the contents.
Outside court, Halderman repeated his apologies, declined interviews and said no more. He remains free on bail until his sentencing, set for May 4.
His plea came more than four months after Letterman announced the case in an Oct. 1 monologue on his show, stunning viewers and impressing critics, who called his alternately folksy and frank speech a masterful move to seize control of the story. He described his office affairs as "creepy" but said he felt he needed to protect the women involved and his family.
Letterman married girlfriend Regina Lasko last year. They began dating in 1986 and have a 6-year-old son.
Fans have more than stuck with him since the disclosures of his workplace affairs. His show averages 4.14 million viewers, up 6 percent from a year ago.
But now, after beating rival Conan O'Brien on NBC's "The Tonight Show," Letterman is again facing Jay Leno, who returned to host "Tonight" last week after nine months' absence. In past years, Leno consistently beat Letterman in the ratings.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. noted that Letterman had come to authorities knowing the case could expose his personal life.
"Mr. Letterman is a public figure, but like all New Yorkers he has a right to a certain degree of privacy in his public life," said Vance, who took over the case from predecessor Robert Morgenthau in January.